Moon River and Me

     It was a rainy today, but a very successful sightseeing day.  Our first stop was at a small community just south of Savannah called Pin Point.  It is Chief Justice Clarence Thomas' home town.  A new museum has been opened in a former oyster and crab processing site.  The factory was an intregral part of a small community which was settled by former slaves in the 1890's.  They were known as "Gullah-Geechee."   At the height of the community, Pinpoint had about 400 inhabitants.  Now there are about 180.  The land in this area which overlooks the salt water marshes along the Moon River is just about the only land along the water still owned by the original residents.  

     Yes, I said the Moon River.  The very river that is referred to in the song.  The lyrics were written by Johhny Mercer who lived in this area within sight of the river.  I hummed the song all day.

    But back to Pinpoint.  The very tightknit community of extremely hard working crab and oyster fisherman and the women who processed their catch had strong beliefs in education and family values.  The short film in which many of the residents talked about growning up in the community included reminiscenes from Clarence Thomas and his mother.  The very interesting man who gave us a tour of the processing factory grew up in the community and so did his relatives for three generations.  Facinating tour!

    After a picnic lunch in the car due to the rain we drove to nearby Wormslow Plantation.  Our entry to the old grounds was under a stone arch and then down an avenue of 400 huge Live Oaks that were dripping with moss.  Very "Gone with the Wind."  These massive trees are evergreen and only lose some leaves in the spring.  They are very sturdy and can be pruned to grow at big angles.  At Wormslow they arched completely over the top of the road.  It was a beautiful approach to the Historic site.  

    Wormslow now is primarily just ruins of a fortified "tabby" house built by Noble Jones who was one of Georgia's earliest residents.  Tabby is a building material made of crushed oyster shells, lime, sand and water - all materials which were very available in this area.  We learned that these original Georgia settlers vowed not to have slaves - they believed that the land owners would become lazy and the colony would fail.  However, eventually that philosophy was changed due to economic issues.

    The chilly, rainy weather has driven us off the screen porch, but did not hinder our sightseeing spirit. It was a great day of history.  We are four "drifters off to see the world, There's such a lot of world to see."